


Haunt, Haunted, Haunting

by katling



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Betray me once shame on you, Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Horror Elements, Natasha gets her comeuppance, Not Natasha Friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Protective FRIDAY, Psychological Horror, Steve gets his comeuppance, Tony doesn't die, betray me twice shame on me, mentions of Rhodey - Freeform, mentions of Vision - Freeform, you don't get a third chance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-19 03:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14228544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: To haunt - To appear or recur often, especially as a ghostHaunted - Often visited by ghosts or spiritsHaunting - Persistently recurring to the mind, difficult to forgetNatasha Romanov returns after the Civil War, thinking she can carry on just like before. She's wrong. She's very, very wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by Chapter 6 of Cartonofcartoons' story, [Truth be told I miss you, truth be told I'm lying](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14103111/chapters/32494344). It's great fun and salty as hell. :D
> 
> This is my first attempt at horror and I hope it's nice and creepy. I tried to put all the answers as to what's going on in the story subtly or otherwise but I may or may not have succeeded at that.

Natasha walked back into the Compound like she hadn’t betrayed those she had allied herself with. She walked back in with a contrite expression and saccharine apologies dripping from her lips. Tony welcomed her back with deceptive politeness that she didn’t see for the mask it was and she carefully concealed her sense of triumph. When she was back in her room, she smirked as she unpacked the phone that had only one dedicated number in it, one that would allow her to keep Steve updated with what was happening with the Accords and would allow them to plan how to bring them down from the inside.

She didn’t notice the look of veiled amusement in Tony’s eyes, the dislike on Rhodey’s face or the cold formality with which Vision greeted her. She didn’t notice the almost robotic way FRIDAY responded to her. She took it all as just petty sulking on their part and treated them appropriately, scolding and cajoling as she saw fit. The one time she saw Spider-Man, face still hidden behind his mask, he stared at her then snickered before disappearing into Tony’s lab, a place she still hadn’t managed to wheedle her way back into. She knew she would. Tony always fell for her schemes and when she did, she’d steal the BARF technology and hand it over to Steve. He’d be able to talk T’Challa into using it on Barnes. The Wakandan scientists would undoubtedly be able to improve it too. They were far better than Stark, certainly they were more compliant when she’d asked for equipment before leaving Wakanda.

*****

When it began, it was so subtle, she almost didn’t notice it. But she was a Black Widow so she _did_ notice it. The faintest of skittering noises, always in the vents above her. She wanted to roll her eyes and demand Tony tell her what kind of surveillance he had on her and to remove it immediately. But then she realised she could use this. Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to hack into whatever was keeping an eye on her and turn them to her advantage.

But when she pried off the vent cover in her room and tried to investigate the skittering noise she’d heard overhead, there was nothing there.

*****

At first she thought the sounds of laughter were real. They were faint, just barely on the edges of her hearing even enhanced as it was, but she could hear the sounds of little girls laughing. She dismissed it at first, assuming that they were the children of some of the staff she saw fleetingly in the distance in the corridors of the Compound. Stark Industries had excellent conditions for their staff and even offered free onsite childcare and she assumed it had been copied over for the Compound staff. Pepper’s doing, she assumed, probably one of the raft of changes she’d brought in once she became CEO. She didn’t think they’d had such things before then, not that she’d really paid attention when she’s acted as Stark’s PA. That wasn’t what she’d been there for. Goading Stark and a little subtle industrial espionage was.

Finally though, she got curious and went looking for these children. The laughter sounded... oddly familiar. But she couldn’t find any signs, not children, not a daycare centre, nothing. But the laughter persisted, just barely audible to her and after a week, there were childish words whispered in between the laughter. 

It took her a few days to realise the words were Russian.

It took her a few more days to recognise the voices.

She paled and found an excuse to leave the room where she’d been observing the meeting between Tony and Rhodes and the Accords Council. The meeting was nearly over anyway, so there probably wasn’t anything more useful to learn. And the voices whispering and laughing at the edges of her hearing were ones she _knew_. Or had known, long ago, in another country. Little girls lined up side by side in the Red Room. Little girls being turned into assassins, who still found time to laugh and chatter as little girls do before it was finally stripped from them by their training. 

*****

A few days later the whispering and laughter stopped and she became convinced she’d just imagined it. That was when the singing started.

_Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout._  
_Down came the rain and washed the spider out._  
_Out came the sun and dried up all the rain_  
_And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again._

The singing was unsettling. High-pitched like a child but the tempo oddly slow and voice was slurred and mushy, like the one doing the singing wasn’t entirely sane.

The singing didn’t happen all the time. In fact, there seemed to be no pattern to it at all. At first she thought it was Tony being childish but then it happened when she was in the same room as him and he apparently didn’t hear anything. She could read his body language and he genuinely wasn’t hearing what she was.

*****

And still the singing continued but now it changed. The song itself stayed the same but the voice began to sound more and more deranged. The skittering in the vents above her returned, as did the sound of the little girls laughing and chattering in Russian.

Then she began to feel like she was being watched.

Like the singing, it wasn’t constant but it was noticeable. She felt it like a weight on her shoulders, the eyes drilling into the back of her head. But every time she turned around, there was no one there. One night she woke up, convinced that whoever was watching her was right in the room but when she quickly flicked on the lights she was alone except for the faint mischievous giggle of a little girl fading away.

She flung herself out of bed and stormed down to Tony’s lab. The lights were on and she could see the man bopping away absently to whatever music was playing as he worked on one of the boots for his suit.

“FRIDAY, let me in,” she demanded.

The AI didn’t acknowledge her but she saw Tony still and raise his head slightly as he listened to something. He stared into nothing for a moment then shrugged and she saw him say something. A moment later, the door slid open, the music having already been silenced.

“Nat,” he said briskly. “What do you want?”

“I want you to stop with this nonsense,” she snapped. It was him. It had to be him. Who else would be so childish?

She felt her annoyance grow when he gave her a baffled frown. “What nonsense?”

“The surveillance and the stupid pranks,” she snarled.

“What?” he said, looking even more confused and she felt her anger grow when she realised he wasn’t acting like he was lying. He had to be and she hated even thinking that he might have learned how to hide away from her.

“The singing,” she snapped.

“What singing?”

She sneered at him. “Don’t lie to me, Stark. The singing that’s playing all the time. It’s childish and petty. I didn’t think you’d let yourself give in to your ego again after all the trouble its caused.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Natasha. There’s no singing and there’s no surveillance other than the passive stuff that’s always been here.”

Natasha suddenly heard that so-familiar giggle and then the singing started again. “That singing!” she almost screeched, pointing in the air. “The one that’s playing now.”

Tony gave her a wary look as he backed away from her a bit. “There’s no singing, Natasha. There’s nothing.”

“You can’t _hear_ that?” she demanded.

“No,” Tony replied carefully. “There’s nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Natasha,” he said firmly. “There’s nothing. No singing, no nothing. Look, maybe you’re just overtired. Why don’t you get some rest?”

She snarled at him just for the satisfaction of seeing him flinch then stormed out of the room. She didn’t see him stand there, a contemplative look on his face before he raised his head slightly.

“FRIDAY?”

“Yes, boss?” came the lilting Irish tones of his AI.

“Do I want to know?”

“No, boss,” FRIDAY said, mirth ringing in her voice.

Tony contemplated that for a moment then shrugged. “Okay,” he said before returning to his work.

*****

She tried to ignore the singing and the giggling and the whispers and the constant watching. She was not going to be outwitted by an idiot like _Stark_. She contacted Steve and told him of the ongoing pettiness and they agreed that she should advance her timetable and get out of there as soon as possible. They didn’t have time to waste on Tony’s stupid games and they had identified the key players in the UN and knew who to target in order to get rid of the Accords. All she needed to do was get hold of the BARF technology.

She waited until Tony and Rhodey had left for a trip to New York to meet with Potts. They’d told her they’d be away for a couple of days and that suited her purposes perfectly. It was easy enough to hack into FRIDAY’s mainframe and temporarily disable her and then she made her move.

She was just opening the door to Tony’s lab when she heard the giggle. Always before the noises had come from above her, from one of the many speakers dotted around the Compound. But this time… this time it sounded like it was behind her. She whirled around, a knife slipping easily into her hand, but the corridor was empty. She snarled at herself and tucked the knife away before stepping into the lab. The air was cool and smelled slightly musty, like it hadn’t been aired out for a while. She wrinkled her nose as she sniffed the air. Tony was such a slob.

That thought was backed up by the place looking, as always, like organised chaos but she was quickly able to categorise what bench was dedicated to what project. She eyed the suit parts and design holographs speculatively but decided to leave that for later, if she had the time. She doubted the virus she’d used would keep FRIDAY down for more than half an hour but that would be more than enough time. 

The table dedicated to the BARF technology was halfway across the room and just as she reached it, she saw two things on a bench not far away – Steve’s shield and Barnes’ arm. She drew in a sharp breath. She knew that Steve had left his shield in Siberia and that was also where Barnes had lost his arm. She didn’t know Tony had brought them back with him. She immediately headed over to the bench then hesitated for a moment. Steve would want his shield back but if she took it now, she’d have to leave immediately before FRIDAY came back online. She would only have the one chance to get what she needed. She then shrugged. She’d planned on leaving tonight anyway, she’d just thought she’d have more time.

She was just reaching out to grab the shield when something flickered in the edges of her vision. She whirled around and saw the faint, ghostly form of a little girl run away and disappear into thin air with a little giggle. She shook her head, sure that she was seeing things, then firmly turned around and grabbed the shield.

When she turned back, she let out a curse and nearly dropped the shield. The little girl was standing in front of her. She was pale and ghostly… and very, very familiar.

“Irina,” she breathed.

The little ghostly girl cocked her head. _Natalia_ , whispered through the air. _Natalia, you left me behind._

Natasha shuddered and backed away a step, bumping into the table behind her. Her hands closed on the shield tightly. “I… I had to…”

_I asked you to help me. You left me._

“We had… we had orders.”

_You left me. I wouldn’t have left you._

Natasha shivered and swallowed hard because she knew it was true. Irina had been poorly suited for the Red Room. She had cared too much. Even back then, Natasha had known Irina had been marked for failure and she hadn’t wanted to fail alongside her. So when they’d been sent on a training hike through the cold of winter and Irina had fallen and twisted her ankle badly enough that she couldn’t walk on it, Natasha had left her behind. She’d been praised for it, rewarded for showing the true ruthlessness required of a Black Widow. She’d moved on to the next part of her training and Irina… Irina had never come back.

Until now, it seemed. 

Natasha knew she should reject this, that ghosts weren’t real, but some distant small part of her remembered being curled up in a blanket in front of a roaring fire, while a snow storm raged outside, as her father told her old Russian ghost stories and folk tales in all their grisly glory. That little girl inside her believed in this ghost, who had haunted her more than she’d ever thought.

_You betrayed me._

“No,” she whispered, her denial shallow and false even to her own ears. “Irina…”

_You betrayed him._

Natasha shivered and clutched the shield tighter, the metal digging into her palms.

_I found him, cold and alone in the snow, like I was. Abandoned, hurt and injured, like I was. I protected him until he was found. I followed him home to protect him still._

“Irina…”

_You’re betraying him again._

Natasha looked down at the shield and when she looked up the ghostly figure was gone. A giggle rang through the room and something brushed past her hip. Natasha yelped and dropped the shield. As it clanged on the ground, something shoved her hard and giggled again.

Natasha edged away from the table, her knife slipping into her hand automatically. “No,” she said firmly. “Ghosts don’t exist. This isn’t real.”

_Isn’t it?_ came the whisper in so-familiar Russian. The giggle was heard again. _If it isn’t real then you have nothing to worry about, Natalia._

Natasha edged her way warily through the room towards the table with the BARF technology. She’d grab it and get out of the lab then out of the entire damn Compound. Steve could manage without his damn shield.

_Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout._  
_Down came the rain and washed the spider out._  
_Out came the sun and dried up all the rain_  
_And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again._

Natasha rushed over to the BARF tale and grabbed the gear sitting neatly at one end. Just as her hand closed around it, she was shoved violently, falling to the floor.

_Stealing is wrong, Natalia._

“You were never right for the Red Room,” Natasha shouted, caught between fear and anger. “You would never have become a Black Widow.”

_Or maybe I’d be the best one of all._ Irina flickered into sight, sitting cross-legged on the table above her. _We’ll never know, shall we, Natalia? You killed me. Your first kill. Are you proud?_

Something skittered across the ceiling above the ghostly figure of Irina. It was black and strange and had far too many legs. Irina looked up at it and giggled.

_Look! It’s the itsy bitsy spider. It’s come for you, Natalia._

The creature dropped to the floor and scuttled towards her. Natasha scrambled backwards but the creature was too fast and it leapt onto her legs. Her skin crawled at the horrible scratchy feeling of its legs then it jumped up onto her chest. Natasha gave a small scream and stabbed at it with the knife. She was too slow though as she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her chest. The creature screeched as her knife thrust into it and it fell away. Natasha fell back, one hand clutching at her chest. She could feel the hot stickiness of her own blood, pumping out of her chest too fast… far too fast.

“No… Irina…”

The ghostly little girl appeared standing over her. She looked down at Natalia with a clinical expression then she smiled and giggled. 

_Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout._  
_Down came the rain and washed the spider out._  
_Out came the sun and dried up all the rain_  
_But the itsy bitsy spider didn’t climb up the spout again._

Irina giggled. _Do you know why, Natalia? Because she’s dead. The itsy bitsy spider is dead._ She paused and sobered, staring down at Natasha with anger. _Just. Like. Me._

Natasha gave a gasp and felt blood bubble out of her mouth then blackness claimed her and she knew nothing forever more.

*****

Tony sighed and scrubbed his face with one hand. “To be honest, Everett, I’m not sure what happened. You’ve seen the video footage. I was hoping you’d make more sense of it than I have.”

“FRIDAY can’t tell you anything?” Everett Ross asked, looking concerned.

“She was disabled,” Tony said with an edge of anger. “The video footage came from the standalone cameras I installed in the lab for security purposes. I’ve been reviewing all the security footage from the security cameras around the Compound. I only do passive surveillance here and only review it if there’s need. So I only learned just now that she’s been in contact with Rogers.”

“Goddammit,” Everett growled. “What were they up to?”

“Stealing my BARF tech. For Barnes, no doubt,” Tony replied. “Also they were trying to find out the key players in the Accords Council.”

“Why?”

“Knowing Romanov? Probably to manipulate or kill them to get what Rogers wants.”

“Do you have proof beyond the phone calls?”

Tony sighed. “We’re searching through her belongings and everything she’s been doing on the computers as we speak. I’ll forward whatever we find out to you.”

“You had no indication that Romanov was going to go off the deep end like this,” Everett asked.

Tony grimaced and scratched his head. “She did come stomping into my lab a few weeks ago accusing me of playing a prank on her. She said she was hearing singing.”

“Singing?” Everett said dubiously.

Tony shrugged. “That’s what she said.”

Everett sighed heavily. “Do we have any idea what that means?”

“None whatsoever,” Tony replied. “FRIDAY was able to track down who Irina was from the SHIELD/HYDRA information dump.”

“Oh?” Everett looked interested and also a bit like he had a headache. Tony could sympathise.

“There was an Irina Pavlova listed as one of the Red Room residents at the same time as Natasha” Tony replied. “She died at the age of ten.”

“So she had a hallucination about this girl?” Everett said with a frown. “Why?”

Tony grimaced. “Well, this is just sheer speculation but… the Red Room used a diluted version of the super soldier serum and… well… not to put too fine a point on it but mental instability seems to be a hallmark of the serum.”

Everett’s frown deepened. “You think she was crazy?”

Tony shrugged. “I’m no psychologist but from what I’ve learned about the serum, it’s possible. You’ll probably want to get some independent expert opinions though.”

“I’ll do that.” Everett’s frowned deepened further, almost carving crevices into his forehead. “What about Rogers?”

Tony flinched a bit and Everett’s expression immediately became apologetic. The Accords Council and Everett Ross were among the few who knew the truth of what had happened in Siberia.

“I’m not the person to ask about that,” Tony said shortly.

Everett nodded. “True. Sorry.”

Tony waved a hand, dismissing the subject. “I have something else that you’re really not going to like.”

Everett sighed. “Is there anything about this I _am_ going to like?”

“No,” Tony replied with a rueful grin.

“Hit me, then.”

Tony took a deep breath then let it out. “I had FRIDAY trace the calls Natasha made on that cell phone to find out where Rogers is.”

He paused and Everett winced. “I’m _really_ not going to like this, am I?”

“Nope,” Tony replied. “Wakanda. I can’t give you any more detail than that because that’s when FRIDAY started running into blocks and I didn’t think it wise to try and hack them but… Wakanda was the general location.”

Everett sighed. “Right. Okay. Look, send me all the data you have. This is our mess to deal with now.”

“You got it,” Tony replied, relieved that he wasn’t going to have to do anything more. 

They ended the call after a few more pleasantries and Tony leaned back in his chair. He stared into space for a moment before speaking, echoing an earlier conversation.

“FRI?”

“Yes, boss?”

“Do I want to know?”

FRIDAY hesitated for a moment. “No, boss,” she said kindly.

Tony nodded and leaned forward. With a few taps of his fingers on the virtual keyboard, copies of voice records and old photos and a single order for a psychotropic gas all disappeared from the Compound servers – and in the case of the gas order, from the supplier’s records – erased for all time. FRIDAY was right. He really didn’t want or need to know what his AI got up to in her spare time. She was a learning program, after all, and if one of the things she was learning was loyalty then that was fine with him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of you asked for more and my muses were willing to play ball so here we go. You get not one but two chapters!
> 
> T'Challa is summoned by the Accords Council and he's got some 'splaining to do.
> 
> Note: I have not seen Black Panther yet (yes, I know, bad Katling *slaps wrist*) so I'm basing the bits and pieces mentioned in here on what I've seen in the trailers and wandering across my tumblr dashboard. And I know the Rogues staying in Wakanda goes a bit against the pre-IW comics but eh, let's just ignore them because I did kill off Natasha. :D
> 
> Also, I stole Nigel Clements from my fic, Have I Changed?, because I like him.
> 
> And! There's no horror in this one, except for the events in the previous chapter being discussed but FRIDAY is still being devious.

Everett Ross looked at the Accords Council members sitting alongside him then back down at the thick folder sitting next to his tablet. Tony Stark had been as good as his word and had sent over every piece of information he could extract about what Natasha Romanov had been up to while she’d been in the country. He glanced over at the computer and projection set up where the Council had watched the videos of Romanov’s phone calls to Rogers and her bizarre and gruesome demise. There was audio attached to the videos but even that left them none the wiser as to why Romanov had suddenly snapped and stabbed herself in the chest.

He shuddered at the memory. The woman had looked utterly deranged in those final moments. A far cry from the seemingly competent and focused Black Widow he’d seen on other occasions. The psychologists they’d called in to assess her mental state had been tentative in their diagnosis. Everett understood why. It was almost impossible to accurately judge her mental state when they couldn’t directly speak to her but they had all the videos from the Compound from her recent stay there, earlier videos to act as a comparison and all the information Stark and others could find on the super soldier serum and what was known of the Red Room.

The Russians had been surprisingly helpful on the latter score. Helpful enough that Everett was a little suspicious. The Russians had been the ones to dig up the video of the fight between Stark, Rogers and Barnes at the HYDRA base in Siberia. Though really, fight was overstating it. It had really been two super soldiers enacting a vicious beat down on a baseline human – albeit one in a high tech suit – who was clearly mentally impaired by the recent shocking truth that had been revealed. Getting Stark to admit to the finer details to clarify what they’d seen had been like pulling teeth. The man had been unhappy, obstinate and mulish and there had almost been a repeat of the disastrous US Senate hearing of a few years previous.

It had, surprisingly enough, been the Nigerian representative who had calmed things down. No one knew what had been said in the private discussion the man had with Stark but in the wake of that meeting, Stark had… well, he’d still been unhappy but he had answered their questions. He wouldn’t volunteer information willingly but if they’d asked a question, he had answered it. It hadn’t been pretty. The visuals had been bad enough but they hadn’t had any audio feed. Stark had been the one to explain to them that Rogers had known about Barnes’ involvement in his parents’ murder and that he’d kept it from Stark for years.

The Russians had also wanted to release the video to the general public and had only backed down when Stark had threatened to terminate the discussions that had started between Stark Industries and the Russian government regarding SI’s clean energy proposals. Everett didn’t think that was going to actually stop the Russians though. Russia’s Ambassador to the UN had looked far too crafty to have been letting it drop entirely. Everett fully expected the video to ‘leak’ onto the internet with the Russian government then claiming to have been hacked. He was pretty sure Stark knew that too because the talks between SI and the Russian government had apparently bogged down lately.

Everett also suspected that the Russians were also going to have a mysterious security breach when the news of Romanov’s bizarre suicide hit the news. They’d been far too eager to offer up the information on the Red Room, claiming they had no compunctions doing so because the program had been canned long ago and was considered obsolete. No one had missed the subtle snide brush off that gave to Romanov’s abilities.

But the documents and videos they’d handed over were certainly damning. The Red Room had indeed given the prospective Black Widows a knock off version of the super soldier serum, apparently derived from the one given to Barnes. Derived from Barnes’ blood to be precise. It didn’t give the Black Widows the same qualities as a super soldier but it had made them a bit faster and stronger, quicker to heal and more resilient. It also, as Stark had surmised, had deleterious effects on their mental states. Of the girls in Romanov’s group, only ten had passed the training to become Black Widows in the first place. Of those ten, three had been killed during missions, six had been killed by their controllers after they’d become dangerously unstable at various points in their careers and then there was Romanov.

The Red Room files had been very interesting. They’d detailed more than just the horrific process that had been used to create the Black Widows. They’d also detailed how one Natalia Romanova had been essentially ‘bought’ by SHIELD, or rather the HYDRA elements within SHIELD, in exchange for SHIELD overlooking the actions of a handful of Russian agents they’d identified acting in the US military and government. Everett knew the official story regarding Romanov, how Clint Barton had been sent to kill her but had instead brought her in. He wondered now how much of that was true.

The files had been helpful to the psychologists though and with the information they’d been given, they’d formed the tentative opinion that Romanov’s mental state must have finally deteriorated completely. They’d then gone on to assess other recipients of the serum and that hadn’t been pretty either. Barnes’ brain was… in god knows what state right now. Blonsky had turned into the Abomination and either couldn’t or wouldn’t turn back. The Red Skull… well, that was a matter of public record. And even Bruce Banner had been affected. While Banner himself might be perfectly sane, his anger issues did now manifest themselves as something large and green.

Which left them with Steve Rogers. The psychologists had agreed that mental instability could be a potential explanation for Rogers’ behaviour since he had been unfrozen but they had been reluctant to really make any solid diagnosis. They had suggested that PTSD and his vast dislocation in time were probably more likely culprits but they honestly couldn’t say for sure without speaking to the man and assessing him professionally.

Which brought Everett back to today’s meeting. He wasn’t going to enjoy this. He owed T’Challa – or more specifically Shuri – his life and now he was potentially going to rake the man over the proverbial coals. But it had to be done. Wakanda and indeed T’Challa himself were signatories to the Accords. What’s more, T’Challa wanted Wakanda to be a member of the global community and if he wanted that, he was going to have to meet certain standards, whether he liked it or not. And harbouring war criminals was not a good way to begin the process.

It wasn’t as if T’Challa hadn’t had his opportunities to come clean and take control of things. He’d had Everett himself at his disposal for example. Yes, things had been a mess during that whole thing with Klaue and Killmonger but there had still been time and opportunities for T’Challa to pull Everett to one side and ask for his assistance in handling the situation with the Rogue Avengers. Perhaps T’Challa had felt he hadn’t needed it. That was most likely the case. T’Challa was a proud man, after all. But he was also a strangely naïve one in many ways and certainly he was inexperienced in dealing with global politics. 

If he’d gotten out in front on this issue, he could have been hailed as a peacemaker and a man of wisdom. Now? Well, now the world powers were going to eat him alive. If he was very lucky, they’d be satisfied with that and would leave his country alone. Everett had done what he could. He liked the Wakandans and he owed his life to Shuri and her technology. So he’d sent a private message to her. He couldn’t say much in case it was intercepted but he’d done what he could to give her a heads up that an avalanche was heading Wakanda’s way and they needed to batten down the hatches.

Everett set his thoughts to one side as the door opened and T’Challa strode in, flanked by four of his Dora Milaje. He recognised Okoye and Ayo among them and met their eyes when they swept the panel they were facing. He hoped his expression conveyed just how serious this was and he thought it might have because both women tensed slightly and shifted just fractionally closer to their King as T’Challa sat down opposite the Council.

“Your Majesty, thank you for coming,” said Nigel Clements, the British Ambassador to the UN and the current Chair of the Accords Council. “We apologise for the short notice but the matter is of some urgency.”

“Of course,” T’Challa said, inclining his head gracefully. “If I or Wakanda can be of assistance to the Council, you need only ask.”

Clements paused as though marshalling his thoughts. “This will be public knowledge fairly shortly, however we felt it wise to… get in ahead of the storm, as it were, to try and control some of the more… rabid reactions.”

T’Challa looked politely curious but Everett noticed the way the Dora Milaje tensed just a little more. It seemed they recognised the trouble in the air even if they didn’t know the specifics. Everett suspected T’Challa did as well but he was covering it well. “A wise move,” T’Challa replied.

“Three days ago, Natasha Romanov killed herself while at the Avengers Compound in the United States,” Clements replied.

It was almost as if the Dora Milaje had turned into stone statues, they went so still, but Everett knew they were now at full alert. That more than anything told him that the Rogues really _were_ in Wakanda. As for T’Challa, he still looked serene and calm but there was a faint tightness about his eyes that gave him away.

“That seems… unusual,” T’Challa said carefully. “While I did not know her well, she did not strike me as the type to take such an action.” He paused and Everett could almost see him examining possible strategies then discarding them before finally selecting his opening salvo. And if he could see that, the experienced diplomats at this table could _definitely_ see it. “Ms Romanov’s relationship with Mr Stark was somewhat… fraught as I understand it. Are you sure it was suicide?”

The mood in the room became distinctly cooler in the wake of T’Challa’s question and he seemed to realise that he’d taken the wrong tack. But the question was out there and he couldn’t take it back. All he could do now was damage control.

“We are very sure,” Clements said. His tone was polite but the British had always been masters at making ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ sound like ‘fuck you’. “Mr Stark and Colonel Rhodes were in New York, meeting with Ms Potts, and at the time of Ms Romanov’s demise were in a restaurant in Manhattan, under the gaze of a number of patrons as well as the restaurant staff.” He waved a hand towards the screen at the side of the room. “We also have this, recorded by the passive monitoring at the Compound, since Mr Stark’s AI, FRIDAY, had been disabled by Ms Romanov.”

The screen came to life and they watched and listened as Romanov came into Stark’s lab to steal his tech. Everett watched with now-familiar horror as the scene played out. As Romanov talked to nothing, begged and snarled and then ultimately stabbed herself in the chest, Everett glanced over at the Wakandans and noticed that while T’Challa looked shaken by what he’d seen, the Dora MIlaje, Okoye and Ayo in particular, seemed… less than shocked. He wouldn’t say they looked pleased but they weren’t exactly upset either. He supposed part of that was simply because they were soldiers but he also got the impression that they hadn’t much liked Romanov.

“That is… deeply disturbing,” T’Challa said once the screen had gone black.

“Indeed,” Clements replied. “However, this is what we are more concerned about?”

Once again the screen lit up. This time it showed Natasha alone in her room, talking on a phone. Though they couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, it quickly became obvious that she was talking to Steve Rogers. It also quickly became obvious that Rogers was in Wakanda and that they believed that T’Challa’s scientists would help them once she brought the stolen BARF technology back. 

The screen went black and Everett looked over at T’Challa. He was relieved to see that the Wakandan king looked genuinely startled, while his bodyguards looked coldly furious. It was a curious combination and Everett speculated that while T’Challa might have known Romanov’s destination, he hadn’t known what they were actually up to. Also that the Dora Milaje clearly did not like the rogues.

“Your Majesty,” Clements said into the current silence, his voice gentle and calm. “Are the rogue Avengers residing in your country?”

T’Challa’s eyes widened slightly then he bowed his head. Everett felt a tinge of sympathy. There was no wiggling out of this. Stark had traced the phone calls to Wakanda and it had been T’Challa who had dropped Zemo off at The Hague. While he may not have directly assisted Rogers in freeing the Avengers in the Raft, there was a distinct likelihood he had aided and abetted that prison break, even if it was passively.

Everett gave the king some credit when he raised his head and very simply said, “Yes.”

“I see,” Clements said. “The Council is curious as to why.”

“I greatly wronged Sergeant Barnes by pursuing revenge against him for the death of my father,” T’Challa replied. “I must repay the debt and am keeping him safe until such time as a solution can be found for the triggers in his mind.”

“And when that is done?” Clements asked.

T’Challa looked confused. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“While we all agree that there are mitigating circumstances for the crimes that were committed by the Winter Soldier,” Clements said calmly. “Sergeant Barnes was not acting as the Winter Soldier in either Bucharest or at the Leipzig/Halle airport. And in all cases, it is not your place to play judge and jury. Sergeant Barnes may not have killed _your_ father, however, he has killed many other fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and so on. And not just as the Winter Soldier.”

“It would be grossly unfair for James Barnes to be held responsible for the actions of the Winter Soldier,” T’Challa said firmly.

“That may well be so,” Clements replied. “But that is for a court to decide. Perhaps your debt would have been better paid by providing Sergeant Barnes with the best lawyers.” He paused but before T’Challa could say anything, he continued, “We can, however, understand your intent regarding Sergeant Barnes, if not your actions, but that does not answer our question regarding Steven Rogers, Samuel Wilson, Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff, Scott Lang and Natasha Romanov. Why is Wakanda sheltering war criminals and terrorists?”

When it was phrased like that, there really wasn’t anywhere T’Challa could go. Everett was watching the Dora Milaje and what he saw was very interesting. They looked… well, he couldn’t quite quantify it but if he had to sum it up, he’d say they didn’t much like their houseguests, weren’t happy that T’Challa was shielding them and were quite happy it was all out in the open now. Which kind of implied they weren’t happy with T’Challa either. Which made sense from what he knew of them from his time in Wakanda. The Dora Milaje weren’t loyal to any particular monarch, they were loyal to _Wakanda_ and harbouring war criminals was not good for Wakanda.

T’Challa finally sighed and ran his hand down his face. Only then did Okoye look momentarily sympathetic as she stepped a little closer to him. “For lack of any better idea of what to do with them.” His gaze flickered over to Everett. “I’m sure you have been told of the recent events in Wakanda?” Everett nodded, as did most on the Council. T’Challa continued. “I extended my offer of sanctuary to Sergeant Barnes and I intended to protect him if the world came for him. Unfortunately, Captain Rogers assumed that was also meant for him and his… friends and by the time I realised that, I had other matters on my plate, including fighting for my right to rule Wakanda. Afterwards…” He shook his head. “It seemed only right to contain them to prevent further carnage.”

There were a lot of sceptical looks from the members of the Council. Everett was a bit sceptical himself but decided to give T’Challa the benefit of the doubt. Whether or not T’Challa had intended it from the start, he _had_ contained the rogues. They had stayed put and not caused any more havoc, thus allowing the UN and the remaining Avengers to begin to rebuild things in a better, more responsible manner.

“And allowing Romanov to leave was…?” Clements asked.

“Good riddance,” T’Challa replied, his lip curling up into a sneer. He shook his head. “I had no idea what they were planning. I know my scientists though. If she had returned with Mr Stark’s technology and was unable to satisfy them that Mr Stark had approved its use by them by having said approval in writing, they would have told me. I would have then contacted Mr Stark.” His face darkened. “As for their plan regarding the Council members… that is unforgivable.”

The Council, while obviously still wary, seemed to relax a bit at that and a few of them leaned forward, clearly willing to start working with T’Challa to solve this mess. As they started talking in earnest, Everett leaned back and tapped out a message on his tablet.

_Is that what you wanted to know?_

A lovely Irish voice spoke in his ear via the tiny earpiece he’d found in his hotel room this morning. “Yes, it is, Mr Ross. And the information I promised is on its way to you right now.”

As she spoke, his email pinged softly and he smiled faintly. He probably should disapprove of what the AI was doing since it was perilously close to Skynet territory but Everett had been CIA before being co-opted first by the Counter Terrorism group and then by the UN. He understood the idea of protecting what was yours by whatever means necessary and ultimately, no matter what the surrounding circumstances were, Natasha Romanov’s death had come at her own hand. Nothing else could be proven. Stark had offered up his computer systems for the UN’s examination and they’d found nothing. It had even been confirmed that FRIDAY had been hacked and a virus implanted that knocked out her active sensors in the Compound during the time in question. No one had bothered to ask if she’d still had access to the passive sensors or any other systems and if they weren’t going to ask, Everett saw no reason to do so either.

Besides, the rogues were a problem that Everett didn’t think was going to be solved by ordinary means. The only ones who could really handle them were Stark, Rhodes and Vision and given each of them had been hurt and/or abused by the rogues during the civil war mess and before, it seemed entirely unfair, not to mention unethical, to involve them. And based on what had happened to Romanov, FRIDAY seemed to have a delightfully devious sense of karmic justice that Everett rather admired. Romanov was known for her skill in manipulating and gaslighting people so FRIDAY had turned that back on her to devastating effect. The CIA agent in him could only admire her skill.

_So you’ll leave Wakanda out of this?_ he typed as he listened to the debate going on.

“Yes, now that I know T’Challa wasn’t actively involved. I think what happens now with the UN will make up for leaving boss in Siberia and…” She paused then continued a little shyly. “I like his sister. I’m glad I don’t have to hurt Wakanda.”

_And the rogues?_

“Do you really want to know?”

Everett paused and considered that. Did he want to know? There was a part of him that wanted to say yes but… well, considering his current position, plausible deniability was probably for the best. He’d know enough and that would satisfy him.

_No, probably not. Good luck._

“Thank you, Mr Ross. It’s been a pleasure.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets his comeuppance. >:D
> 
> Don't mess with FRIDAY and don't hurt the people she cares about. Too bad Steve didn't know that.

The process had been long, slow and often contentious but it had been done. Most people wanted to lock up the rogues and throw away the key but the arrival of Thor and his warnings about the approach of Thanos had changed things. Every possible advantage was needed and while there were a lot of mutterings from many countries, it was generally accepted that the rogues were, regrettably, needed. “As cannon fodder, if nothing else,” the Romanian representative at the UN had muttered darkly.

The delay had been useful for the remaining Avengers since it had allowed them time to recruit other enhanced people to their cause as well as agree to house the Guardians of the Galaxy and any of the Asgardians who were willing to fight on Midgard’s behalf… and that then gave them ample opportunity to claim there was no space for the rogues at the Compound. No one really believed that to be true but the Accords Council accepted it anyway, their bland expressions when they informed the rogues they would have to find alternative accommodation perhaps giving away their true feelings on the matter.

Finally the new and hopefully improved SHIELD had stepped forward and agreed to house the rogues, though they’d quickly found that SHIELD wasn’t what it had once been and that included its budget. The rogues moaned and groaned and complained but SHIELD refused to budge and Steve’s calls to Tony went unanswered… until now.

“Hello…”

“Tony!” Steve said with relief.

“…you have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message and I may or may not get back to you later.”

“Tony?”

There was no answer then the phone clicked and the dial tone buzzed in his ear. He quickly dialled the number again.

“Hello, you have reached the life decoy model of Tony Stark. Please leave a message and I may or may not get back to you later.”

“Tony, it’s… it’s Steve. I need to talk to you. Can you please call me back?”

Tony didn’t call him back and Steve grew increasingly frustrated as further calls just ended up at the same message. Finally, just when he was about to disregard the rules that had been set in place for their return and head over to the Compound anyway, the phone rang.

“Tony!” he said, almost breathless after rushing to answer it.

“Hey, Steve.”

“I’ve been trying to reach you for ages.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Steve could almost see Tony’s sheepish smile. “I’ve been crazy busy with all this Thanos stuff. I haven’t been at the Compound much the last few weeks.”

Steve remembered seeing something about that on the TV news. Tony had been travelling a lot, talking to the UN and various governments. But… that would mean that Tony had left the phone at the Compound. How was he supposed to call Steve if he did that? He decided to leave that for now. They could talk about it when they met.

“I was hoping to talk to you, face to face,” Steve said.

“I don’t know, Steve,” Tony said, his voice quiet and soft. “I don’t think they’ll let you in the Compound or the Tower.”

“Maybe we could meet somewhere else?” Steve pressed. “It’s been a while, Tony. I’ve missed you.”

He heard a soft sigh at the other end of the line. “Yeah, I’ve missed you too, Steve. Look, I think I know a place. It’s a little out of the way but no one will notice us going there.”

“Great!” Steve said with a smile. “What’s the address?”

Tony gave him an address in Jersey and they arranged to meet in a couple of days’ time. When Steve hung up, he was filled with satisfaction. Sure, Tony hadn’t apologised but that was something better done face to face anyway. They would meet and sort all of this mess out and then they would go back to the Compound and things could go back to normal.

When he turned up to the address he’d been given a couple of days later, he frowned. It wasn’t what he’d been expecting. He’d thought it might be a café or something or even one of Tony’s other properties but this… was a warehouse and one that looked like it hadn’t been used in some time. It was a strange place to meet but he supposed that Tony must have his reasons. Maybe he wanted to be sure the Accords Council didn’t know until they could present everything as a fait accompli. With that satisfying thought in mind, Steve pushed open the door and walked inside.

The warehouse was completely empty and Steve’s frown deepened. There was no sign of Tony but he wasn’t concerned. Tony was always late. He’d practically made an art form of it. Steve had spoken to him about it time and time again but Tony had never listened. Perhaps that was something they could work on in the future.

He wandered around the vast, empty space as he waited, wondering what the warehouse had originally been used for. There was certainly no sign of anything and it was surprisingly clean for a place that hadn’t been used for years. Maybe Tony had had it cleaned for their meeting? 

Steve was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the faint hiss coming from the ceiling and walls. The gas being pumped into the space was colourless and odourless and powerful enough to even work on a supersoldier. Steve was so distracted that he never even noticed something was wrong until his vision blurred and by then it was far too late.

“Son of a bitch.”

Steve frowned at the language as he slowly swam up towards consciousness. For a moment, he had no idea where he was but then his memories came flooding back. The warehouse! The meeting with Tony! He forced his eyes open and the first thing he saw was the roof of the warehouse. He knew it was the same place due to the odd pattern caused by a water stain that he’d looked at for a while, admiring the pattern nature had made.

However, when he looked around now, the warehouse was far from empty. Now it was full of equipment – a bare handful of computers, pinboards, filing cabinets, paper files, even what looked like a small armoury with weapons and various types of body armour. 

All bearing the symbol of HYDRA.

Steve jerked and that was when he realised he was sitting in a chair and had been handcuffed to a table. He tested the handcuff but they didn’t budge an inch. They were chunkier and more robust than normal handcuffs and had presumably been made with him in mind. Steve squared his shoulders, readying himself to deal with HYDRA. He knew he could hold out against their interrogation methods but he was worried about Tony. The older man was much weaker than him and would be more vulnerable to HYDRA’s tactics.

But when the first people walked in, they weren’t wearing any HYDRA markings. Instead they were wearing jackets with F.B.I. emblazoned on them. Steve scoffed quietly. Obviously this was some sort of ploy to get him to play along. He knew better though. But the two men barely spared him a glance and instead started poring over the papers and files in the room.

“Son. Of. A. Bitch,” the younger of the two murmured. “I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. These plans… damn, he and his people would have taken out everyone at the Compound and half the UN delegates.”

The older man looked disgusted. “And right when we’ve got an intergalactic threat on our doorstep. He was probably planning on using the chaos to establish HYDRA’s control.”

“Didn’t Thor say that Thanos sometimes only kills half the population of a planet?” the younger one said. “Maybe that was HYDRA’s plan? Offer up half of Earth’s population and leave the HYDRA approved half alone.”

The other man grunted. “What’s the bet all the organisations and people who have stood in HYDRA’s way would have been number one on the list?”

“No bet,” the younger man said with a chuckle.

“Well, there’ll be no wriggling out of this one,” the older man said, nodding towards the files. “It’s all here in black and white.”

The younger one flicked a disgusted look at Steve. “Maybe they’ll rename _him_ Captain Hydra.”

The older man snorted but before Steve could say anything, the two men left. He peered around him and focused in as much as he could. As he did, he paled. The pin boards and the papers stuck to the nearby walls contained detailed plans to infiltrate the Compound and assassinate the people living there. There were detailed plans for how to overcome some of the enhanced people, including the names of those among Steve’s group who would be tasked with the job. Other papers detailed assassination plans for UN delegates, with their movements over the last few months summarised and best opportunities highlighted.

And almost all of it was written in Steve’s handwriting.

The little that wasn’t was in Natasha’s handwriting but Steve could also see bits and pieces in Clint’s, Sam’s and Wanda’s writing.

It took a moment more to really sink in and then he began to shout and try to escape. They thought he was _HYDRA_. Tony must have set him up!

His shouting drew people into the room but not in the way he’d wanted. Instead of listening to him, they backed away and waited. He wasn’t sure what for but then a handful of people dressed in black fatigues burst into the room, brandishing strange looking guns. They fired at him and he looked down to see four darts embedded in his chest. The drug within them acted quickly and as he sank back into unconsciousness, Steve could have sworn he heard a young woman laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, did FRIDAY manipulate the process to get the Rogues back purely so she could do this? Maaaaaaaybe.
> 
> Did she get one of the bots to learn Steve's handwriting (and that of the others) so she could get all those incriminating documents? Maaaaaaaybe.
> 
> Did she have some help setting this up? Maaaaaaaybe.
> 
> Was that help known as Peter, Ned and MJ? Lips are sealed and silence will be kept.
> 
> Were the FBI confused when they arrived and found Steve unconscious? A little but they just assumed the anonymous phone call they received came from whichever ground level Enhanced found him and knocked him out. 
> 
> Has FRIDAY planted false records in the HYDRA part of the SHIELD data dump to confirm all of this? Maaaaaaaybe.
> 
> Does Tony know FRIDAY has been misusing his voice print? Nope, and he never will. All records of those phone calls have been completely erased.
> 
> :D


End file.
